The Liberal branding advantage
OAKVILLE, ONT.—American billionaire (and soon to be the owner of Twitter) Elon Musk once said, “Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time.” That’s true in business; it’s also true in politics. Indeed, good branding helps political parties establish an identity for themselves in the minds of voters. This matters because […]
Transport Minister Alghabra’s office reaches 19 staff
There are five new staff to report, and one departure, in Transport Minister Omar Alghabra’s office since Hill Climbers’ last dive into the team in late December, including Emma Kristensen, who’s been brought on as director of appointments, cabinet, and parliamentary affairs. Kristensen joined Alghabra’s team in January after roughly two years as an operations […]
Housing, Diversity, and Inclusion Minister Hussen’s team swells to 21 staff
Housing, Diversity, and Inclusion Minister Ahmed Hussen has built up a 21-member staff team led by chief of staff Hursh Jaswal, with 12 additions and one departure since Hill Climbers last checked in at the start of the year. Cédric Sarault—who had moved with Hussen from the families portfolio to serve as a Quebec policy […]
Ten new faces in Public Safety Minister Mendicino’s office
Ten staffers have joined Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s team since Mike Jones took over as chief of staff to the minister at the start of the year, including Kelly Murdock as director of parliamentary affairs. A staffer on Parliament Hill since 2013, Murdock spent the last two years as a senior policy adviser to […]
Child care is Trudeau Liberals’ greatest legacy, but everyone appears to have moved on
CHELSEA, QUE.—Ten years from now—perhaps sooner—the national child-care program launched by the federal Liberals last year, and finalized in recent months, could well be celebrated as the country’s most important social and economic reform since medicare. If it survives. So why isn’t anyone talking about it, “anyone” being most political pundits, opposition parties, provincial leaders—even […]
The meaning of the Liberal-NDP Agreement
TORONTO—There is both more and less to the Liberal-NDP confidence-and-supply deal than meets the eye. Referring to the deal as “NDP-Liberal government” as interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen has done or a “Liberal-NDP government” as Esprit de Corps magazine editor Scott Taylor does in The Hill Times is ridiculous, as ridiculous as calling Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s […]
A look at new Public Services and Procurement Minister Tassi’s team
There are some new faces among the 20 political staff at work in new Public Services and Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi’s office, including former cabinet chief of staff Cory Pike, who’s now a senior adviser for COVID response. Pike joined Tassi’s team in February, and up until last November had spent roughly three years in […]
Two policy directors for Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough
The trend of two policy directors continues in Employment, Workforce Development, and Disability Inclusion Minister Carla Qualtrough’s office, where policy director Kelly Bryant is working alongside Kevin Murphy as director of policy for disability inclusion. International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan, who’s also responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency, similarly has two policy directors, as […]
Wilson-Raybould says new book will be ‘a roadmap’ for ‘true reconciliation’
Fresh off being named a finalist for this year’s Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing for her September 2021 memoir ‘Indian’ in the Cabinet, former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has announced that she is writing another book. True Reconciliation: How to Be a Force for Change will be a “roadmap to advancing true reconciliation across […]
Ukrainian Hill staffers find solace, community as they help compatriots and each other
Working on Parliament Hill means tackling a myriad of issues in a given year—and some hit close to home. For Ukrainians working in the offices of MPs and ministers, an already tumultuous time was made even more so when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in late February. But grief can be a unifier, and […]
